Categories

Meta

event

After planning many fundraisers with my clubs and being a part of the third party fundraiser team at the Heart & Stroke Foundation, I thought I’d share with you some tips I’ve learned throughout the years!

1. Sponsorship: As informal as this may seem, I found the most effective way to get in contact with the sponsorship rep from companies was through Twitter. A simple tweet at companies you’d like to sponsor your fundraiser, which asks them for the contact information of the sponsorship rep. This was a lot easier than going through the company website, and submitting an email to the general corporate email address. Most of the in-kind sponsorship I’ve received for events, were through this method! But keep in mind, most companies take 1-3 months to process your request, so plan ahead!

2. Promotion: Two great sites that I use to get the word out there in the local community is BlogTo and Snap. BlogTo has a great event page, which is easy to set up. It takes less than 5 minutes to input your fundraiser information and after a few days, it’s on their official events calendar! Snap Newspaper is also a great way to promote. Not only do they have an events calendar (which is also easy to input your information with fast approval), they also send out a tweet on their page the day before your event. In addition, they will send a photographer to cover your event too! Afterward, one photo is featured in their monthly newspaper. All this is free, which is an excellent way to gain awareness within your community!

My HSFYork team featured in SNAP Downtown!

3. Charity’s Resources: Just because you’re supporting the charity, doesn’t mean they can’t support you too! Make sure you utilize the resources they provide. Many charities have platforms where you can set up an third party event page, which is directly affiliated to their website. You can set up your event fundraising page, allowing people to donate online too! Also, they’re able to help provide advice, if you have any questions when you’re planning your fundraiser. Charities are often able to write a letter of support, which is an official document stating that you are having a fundraiser that is benefiting the corresponding charity. I found this helped a lot when I was seeking partnerships and sponsorship for my fundraisers since it adds credibility to your fundraiser! Here’s a list of ways the Heart and Stroke Foundation supports our fundraisers: click here!

I hope you’ll find my tips helpful! Best of luck with your fundraisers!

My final fundraiser for my Heart and Stroke Foundation club at York University was yesterday. Art Night, was in partnership with the Winters Community Art Club at York and it was a night of casual painting, drawing, origami and refreshments. Of course, all in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation!

We were very thankful to be sponsored by Starbucks who supplied our guests with hot coffee and Tim Hortons who sponsored with timbits and cookies.

Guests had the opportunity to paint, draw or do origami. Here are pictures from some of the guests!

All the guests enjoyed themselves, and we hope to donate some of the pieces to a heart and stroke ward at a local hospital. Overall, it was a great event to end off the school year! I’m very proud of what HSFYork has accomplished this year. We did a lot of different types of fundraisers this year that really alligned with our mission – to raise money AND awareness for the Heart and Stroke Foundation! Moving forward to next year, I believe HSFYork is stronger than ever and will definitely keep growing!

One of the biggest fundraisers I organize is “Pump Up the Beat”, which is in collaboration with my Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) club at York and the HSF clubs at UofT St. George & Scarborough campuses. This is the second time I’ve organized this fundraiser. It’s a night of performances, silent auction, date auction, games + more. Over the past two years, this event has fundraiser over $1500 and has over 100 attendees!

2013

DJ station on the stage

Audience and room decor

2014

I MC’d this year’s show!

My HSFYork team!

Overall, organizing Pump Up the Beat is a very rewarding experience. It’s great to see everyone come together and having a great time for a great cause! The event was a lot of work and took a lot of dedication, but the end result is worth it.